Shipping a car to or from Puerto Rico
Shipping a car to or from Puerto Rico is an ocean shipment, not a highway trip that continues across the water. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico describes service between Jacksonville and San Juan and says it ships cars on that trade, including connections it lists to St. Thomas and St. Croix. You deal with the ocean carrier's terminals and documents. A continental open-trailer estimate does not price the ship.
Key facts
- The trade TOTE names
- TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico describes Jacksonville to San Juan service and says it ships cars between Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Jacksonville using auto racks.
- Source: totemaritime.com
- It is not a truck lane
- Do not read a Florida-to-Northeast highway estimate as the ocean fare. Book the vessel with the ocean carrier.
- Vessel condition rules apply
- A car loaded on a ship is under 49 CFR 176.905, including the one-fourth fuel limit for flammable liquid and a ban on loading a leaking vehicle.
- Source: ecfr.gov
- A dead or flooded EV is not ordinary cargo
- PHMSA says a vehicle that cannot move under its own power, leaks, or has prolonged water exposure is forbidden on a vessel.
- Source: phmsa.dot.gov
The sources are listed on this page.
Shipping a car to or from Puerto Rico is a voyage between a mainland terminal and the island, not a car carrier rolling onto a ferry at the end of I-95. The fact that sets the schedule is the ocean line's receiving day and sailing, which you get from that line. A highway calculator cannot see it. This page does not print a truck-lane price for that reason.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico is the operator page opened for this article. Other lines may sail the trade. Their rules are their pages, not TOTE's.
What TOTE says it runs
TOTE's Puerto Rico page describes transportation for the Puerto Rico trade and says its ships on that service are lift-on/lift-off vessels. It says it specializes in shipping cars between Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Jacksonville, Florida, using auto racks. It says the service includes St. Thomas and St. Croix. The page header identifies the route as Jacksonville to San Juan. That is the geography to plan around until the carrier's booking names a different terminal.
Ask TOTE, when you book, which terminal address to use, what the cutoff is, and whether your vehicle type is accepted. The marketing page does not list a personal-car rate table. Do not invent one, and do not paste a mainland estimate into the gap. The guide to what RideShipper does not book overseas matches this limit: the site's highway quotes are not steamer fares.
A truck from your house to Jacksonville, if you need one, is a continental shipment to that city. Price it only after you know the terminal and the day the ship will receive the car. Look that truck company up on the SAFER snapshot. The ship is not a USDOT car carrier.
What the car has to be
- Booked with the ocean carrier, with a receiving appointment if they require one.
- Within the fuel rule for vessels. 49 CFR 176.905 says a flammable-liquid tank may not be more than one-fourth full, and the vehicle is inspected for leaks before loading. Other paragraphs in that section cover different fuel types. Read the one that matches the car, and read the carrier's sheet.
- Able to be accepted on a ship. PHMSA's April 2023 advisory, discussing 49 CFR 176.905, says a vehicle showing leakage, an electrical fault such as inability to start or move under its own power, or prolonged water exposure is forbidden for transportation on a vessel. A hurricane-flooded car is that case. An ordinary running car is not.
- Cleared of loose cargo the line refuses. Ask. Do not assume a household load can hide in the cabin.
- Documented the way that line asks. Because this is not the Canada export described in 19 CFR 192.2, do not stack a foreign-export packet on top of a domestic ocean booking unless the carrier or Customs tells you to. Ask the carrier what they will collect at the terminal.
- Met by someone at the far end who knows the pickup window at the island terminal. Free time, if any, is the line's rule. It is not printed here.
What to ask, and the mistakes
Ask whether the car rides in an auto rack or in a container, because TOTE's page mentions both container ships and auto racks. Ask the cutoff. Ask about EVs before you modify a plan around one. Ask who to call on the island when the ship arrives.
The mistake is a "Puerto Rico specialist" truck broker who collects a deposit and never produces a booking number from an ocean line. The Better Business Bureau's 21 July 2023 alert describes vehicle-transport deposits and companies missing from the USDOT site. An ocean shipment can wear the same costume. Another mistake is planning St. Croix as if it were the San Juan terminal. TOTE says those ports are part of a wider service. Confirm the one on your booking. Another is a military family booking commercially before the transportation office looks at the orders. Use the military page.
Limits
An ocean carrier can refuse a leaking car, a missed cutoff, or a vehicle type it does not take. RideShipper does not operate ships, publish a San Juan tariff, take an ocean deposit, or insure cargo at sea. World Media Group LLC runs a quote service for U.S. highway requests. Puerto Rico's ocean leg is outside that product. A highway request to a Florida port is useful only as a feeder, after the ship is booked.
Get the ocean booking and the terminal address first. The island page covers other islands that are not this Jacksonville-San Juan trade. Do not mix the instructions.
Questions
Can I hire a car carrier in Florida and have it continue to San Juan?
No. The water leg is a ship. A truck can, if you hire one, bring the car to the mainland terminal the ocean line names. That is a separate booking and a separate price. It is not the voyage.
Is Puerto Rico the same paperwork as shipping to Canada?
No. Canada is a border export under U.S. Customs rules described on the Canada page. Puerto Rico is an ocean domestic trade operated by carriers such as the TOTE service named here. Ask that carrier what documents it wants. Do not file a Canada-style export because a forum said all islands are the same.
Does TOTE also serve the Virgin Islands?
TOTE's Puerto Rico page says its service includes shipping to St. Thomas and St. Croix, and that it ships cars among Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Jacksonville. Confirm the port and whether a personal vehicle is accepted on that sailing.
How much fuel can be in the car?
49 CFR 176.905 says a flammable-liquid tank may not be more than one-fourth full when the vehicle is loaded on a vessel, and the section has other conditions. The ocean carrier's instructions may be stricter. Read both.
Does RideShipper book the ship to San Juan?
No. RideShipper does not reserve ocean space, set steamer rates, take that payment, or insure the car aboard. Highway quotes, if any, stop at a mainland port city.